A man was arrested after three arsons at Masonic lodges across the Vancouver area Tuesday which resulted in a police chase.
Saskatchewan's minister of health has apologized for speaking in error in regards to how patients hospitalized by COVID-19 are counted in provincial data. Minister Paul Merriman incorrectly stated during the human services committee meeting on April 15 that COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized, but no longer infectious, are not included in the province's hospital or ICU count. He corrected the error days later. "If they are in the hospital, and tested positive, no matter how long they remain in that hospital, they will still be counted as that," Merriman said Monday during Question Period. "That's my apologies." The minister will notify the committee in writing that he was mistaken in his answer, said a spokesperson for the ministry. Health policy consultant Dennis Kendel said it was "very concerning" for the minister to relay flawed information. "The health minister is the highest public official, accountable to the public, for managing the entire public health system, or governing it, I might say," Kendel said. "If he/she doesn't understand what the terminology means, that's very worrisome." How recoveries are reported The government deems someone "recovered" 10 days after they receive a positive COVID-19 test because they are no longer considered infectious, regardless if they are still hospitalized from the virus. Kendel said the ministry should use the word "non-infectious" instead, as the word "recovered" can sow confusion. Dennis Kendel said the Ministry of Health should use the word “non-infectious” instead as the word “recovered” can sow confusion. (Trent Peppler/CBC) "In addition to the people who are in the hospital, who are obviously not recovered, a high percentage of people develop long symptoms and require help and support from the health-care system," Kendel said. He said words matter and so does communication with the public. "If we don't understand the severity of this, we're more inclined to accept less interventional measures by the government," Kendel said. Saskatchewan a hotspot for COVID-19 hospitalizations Saskatchewan continues to have one of the highest rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations among all the provinces. On April 17, chief medical officer Dr. Susan Shaw said on CBC's White Coat Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman that Saskatchewan is "seeing similar things, if not the same things" as Ontario when it comes to health-care workers burning out and hospitals having limited ICU capacity. During a presentation to physicians on April 15, the SHA said "if current trajectory holds, our health system will be overrun." Last week, the SHA made the unprecedented moved of placing two COVID-19 patients in some rooms to make space for more patients. On Monday, hospitalizations continued to grow. The province reported 200 COVID-19 patients in hospital, an increase of 11 from Sunday, with 43 people in the ICU, 31 of whom are in Regina. The Saskatchewan Health Authority said it includes both infectious and non-infectious patients in its hospitalization and ICU numbers.(Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images) Shaw told Dr. Goldman there's "a frustration, and at times it gets into anger because we do know that COVID can be prevented." "Sometimes I'm standing in the ICU looking after a young parent of young children, treating that person knowing that it's preventable," Shaw said. "I think that causes a lot of moral distress and that is going to add up, that is going to build up and I think it is going to spill over in ways that we can't really understand yet."
VICTORIA — The British Columbia government is looking at using periodic roadblocks to limit travel in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and the solicitor general, says the checks would be set up at locations like ferry terminals or along major highways leading out of Metro Vancouver. In a statement today, Farnworth says the goal is to discourage recreational travel but there will be no random, individual stops. On Monday, Premier John Horgan said unenforceable restrictions would not be considered. Farnworth says his ministry is also working to ensure the new rules don't unfairly impact racialized communities. The statement says more information is expected later in the week. "Most British Columbians know they have a part to play in helping to curb the spread of COVID-19 and I am sure they will adhere to the new rules and stay in their region," Farnworth says. “Our intention is to discourage recreational and leisure travel, not punish people, and we are not interested in disrupting commuters and people going about their lives." Police will wait for an order under the Emergency Program Act and any associated guidelines before proceeding, says the ministry. The government has been working with the tourism industry and BC Ferries to cancel bookings that have been made and to not accept new ones from people living outside their intended destination, Horgan said Monday. Measures that ban indoor dining and adult activities at gyms have also been extended for another five weeks, matching the length of the travel restrictions, which will continue until at least May 24. On Monday, the B.C. government said the province had 2,960 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2021. The Canadian Press
A House of Commons committee heard startling testimony about rape and retribution from different witnesses today as it continued its examination of sexual misconduct in the military. The Status of Women committee heard both from complainants and from former senior military officer Bernie Boland — who alleges he stood up against the harassment of a female colleague and faced a deliberate, Department of National Defence-backed smear campaign as a result. Aviator Emily Tulloch, an air force technician, told MPs her military career has been one horrifying event after another. "I joined the Canadian Armed Forces in July 2018, and since then I feel like I have experienced a lifetime worth of sexual assault and misconduct," she said. "I am here today to tell you that I was raped only one month into my basic training at St. Jean [Quebec]. One month. I was also sexually assaulted during my training at Borden [Ontario]. And I have been groped and kissed unwillingly at group parties and mess events. These degrading behaviours are more common than you think." 'Treated like a criminal' Tulloch said her encounters with the military justice system have been "quite negative." She said she was interviewed three times by military police after reporting misconduct. Two of those interviews, she said, were "dreadful" experiences. "It felt more like an interrogation," she said. "During these interviews I felt investigators were not treating me like a human being, but as just another case file to them. There was no empathy and humanity, and it was so frustrating that during the second interview I left early because I felt like I wasn't being heard, and that I was being treated like a criminal." Tulloch said military police training related to sexual assault survivors must be improved. Dawn McIlmoyle, a former member of the military whose report of being raped by a colleague made national headlines in the late 1990s, told MPs she faced discipline herself over the incident involving her attacker — and was at one point made to stand alongside him during disciplinary proceedings. The system, she said, left her feeling abandoned, broken and at fault. "When I left the military, I had no self-respect, no self worth and no self value," McIImoyle said. Lt. (N) Heather Macdonald told MPs people who report sexual misconduct in the military face long odds.(CBC News/House Of Commons ) Lt. (N) Heather Macdonald, a naval combat systems engineer, told MPs that getting justice for a sexual assault in the military is even harder than it is in the civilian justice system. "Getting justice for incidents of sexual assault is generally very difficult for the average female in our Canadian society," said Macdonald, whose allegation is at the centre of a sexual misconduct investigation involving Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Art McDonald. "It becomes more difficult when you are trying to get justice through the military, under the National Defence Act (NDA) where there are more options to plead down to an NDA offense, which carries little consequences for the perpetrator. "And it becomes more difficult if you are in the navy and the incident happens on a navy ship at sea or in a foreign port." When investigations take place aboard Canadian warships abroad, Macdonald said, the military police officers who serve on those ships tend to rely on the ship's coxswain and section chiefs to do disciplinary inquiries. "This greatly reduces the chances that admissible evidence will be gathered and preserved," she said. The committee steered clear of the specifics of the assaults involving all three women; chair Marilyn Gladu noted that some of the cases "remain under investigation by military police." Former officer says he was targeted for payback Testifying before a parliamentary committee does grant military witnesses a certain freedom to speak in public they might not otherwise enjoy. Boland, a retired lieutenant-colonel, told MPs that he while worked at DND headquarters in Ottawa, he was singled out for retribution after reporting the harassment of a junior female colleague by a senior engineering manager. Lt.-Col. (ret) Bernie Boland tells a House of Commons committee he was singled out for retribution in DND after going to bat for a colleague who reported sexual misconduct.(CBC News/House of Commons) Boland alleged his female colleague filed a human rights complaint and DND, in its response, blamed him for the harassment. "I reported it. He was promoted. We faced reprisal and retaliation," Boland told the four-party committee. "DND, in a formal departmental submission to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, secretly made me the scapegoat for the misconduct. I was made aware of these surreptitious actions by the woman who was harassed. DND secretly making me the scapegoat was reprehensible and I vehemently protested." In a formal complaint filed last January, Boland wrote to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and singled the department's deputy minister for allowing the submission to go to the human rights commission. He said his colleague's complaint was "summarily dismissed" by the department, despite Sajjan's public claim that all allegations will be thoroughly investigated, no matter the rank or position of the individuals involved. Boland filed a series of documents with the committee to support his allegations. "There is a cultural problem in defence," he said, "but there is institutional reluctance to distinguish between the proximate and the ultimate cause of this problem. "From my perspective, the ultimate cause is the failure and breakdown of leadership to act in an ethical, morally-appropriate, determined and deliberate manner to arrest and eliminate misconduct." Macdonald offered a similar warning, telling MPs that the future of the Canadian military is at stake. "I worry that if nothing comes from this issue, which has so much heat and light, that we will lose hope," she said. "People in uniform will lose hope that any other issue can be fixed, and that could trigger more people leaving uniform than what our organization can handle."
LAS VEGAS — A convicted killer who is fighting a possible June execution date that would make him the first person put to death in Nevada in 15 years is calling for the state to consider the firing squad as an option, a rare method in the United States. Attorneys for Zane Michael Floyd say he does not want to die and are challenging the state plan to use a proposed three-drug lethal injection, which led to court challenges that twice delayed the execution of another convicted killer who later took his own life in prison. “This is not a delaying tactic,” Brad Levenson, a federal public defender representing Floyd, said Monday. But a challenge of the state execution protocol requires the defence to provide an alternative method, and Levenson said gunshots to the brain stem would be “the most humane way.” “Execution by firing squad ... causes a faster and less painful death than lethal injection,” the attorneys said in a court filing Friday. Nevada once allowed firing squads, but state law now requires the use of lethal injection in sentences of capital punishment. Three U.S. states — Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah — and the U.S. military allow capital punishment by gunfire. The last time that method was used in the United States was in Utah in 2010. Floyd's attorneys are asking a federal judge in Las Vegas to stop Floyd from being put to death until prison officials “devise a new procedure or procedures to carry out a lawful execution.” Levenson said he and attorney David Anthony are fighting multiple issues in state and federal courts, with the possibility that Floyd’s death could be set for the week of June 7. Prosecutors will seek an execution warrant at a state court hearing next month. The 45-year-old was convicted in 2000 of killing four people with a shotgun in a Las Vegas supermarket in 1999 and badly wounding a fifth person. Floyd appeared to exhaust his federal appeals last November, and the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear his case. Floyd wants a chance to seek clemency at a June 22 meeting of the Nevada State Pardons Board, Levenson said. Floyd's attorneys argue that a three-drug injection combination the state wants to use — the sedative diazepam, the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl and a paralytic, cisatracurium — would amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of his constitutional rights. Anthony made similar arguments on behalf of Scott Raymond Dozier before Nevada's last scheduled execution was called off in 2017 and 2018. Dozier killed himself in prison in January 2019. A judge blocked the first date after deciding that use of the paralytic might cause painful suffocation while Dozier was aware but unable to move. Pharmaceutical companies that made the three drugs stopped the second date with arguments against using their products in an execution, an issue several states are facing. Floyd would be the first person executed in Nevada since 2006, when Daryl Mack asked to be put to death for his conviction in a 1988 rape and murder in Reno. Nevada has 72 men awaiting execution, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman said. Ken Ritter, The Associated Press
IQALUIT, Nunavut — The Nunavut RCMP has released new, but limited details into the death of a 31-year-old man who was shot by an officer in the hamlet of Clyde River last spring. Mounties said two officers responded to a domestic disturbance at the home of Abraham Natanine the night of May 5. They said the situation escalated and Natanine retrieved a weapon, but the RCMP has not released what the weapon was. Police said the interaction evolved and resulted in an officer discharging his firearm at Natanine, who was rushed to the health centre and pronounced dead. The Ottawa Police Service earlier this month issued a statement on its independent investigation into the shooting, which found the officers involved not criminally responsible for Natanine's death. The Ottawa police have a memorandum of understanding with Nunavut RCMP to investigate serious actions involving police to determine whether charges should be laid. The reports are not made public. Qajaq Robinson, a lawyer working with Natanine's family, said she found out about the investigation's conclusion through the media. She noted there was little information in the news release issued by the Ottawa Police Service about the review of Natanine's death. "This isn't serving people and it's also not serving justice," she said. "There's such a challenge in terms of getting information, that this does nothing to enhance confidence in the RCMP, in policing or in institutions of oversight." Natanine's spouse, the mother of his two children, also learned about the investigation's findings through the news. "People, victims, family, relatives, close people to those shot and killed are finding out through the news, even when they have legal counsel supporting them and known to these institutions," Robinson said. "This system is broken and it is not serving Nunavummiut." In a statement, Ottawa police Supt. Chris Renwick said the practice in death investigations is to identify a single family liaison who can pass information from investigators to family members. In Natanine's case, a liaison was established who communicated directly with the lead investigator and was told about the conclusion one day before the news release went out, Renwick said. "The Ottawa Police Service has since learned that, regrettably, not all members of the immediate family of Mr. Abraham Natanine were made aware of the conclusion and findings prior to our release issuance and related media reporting," Renwick said. Since Jan. 1, 2020, there have been six serious encounters involving police in Nunavut, including the shooting deaths of Natanine and Attachie Ashoona in the hamlet of Kinngait. Earlier this year, the Ottawa police also cleared the officer who shot and killed Ashoona as well as the officer who knocked down a Kinngait man with a truck door during an arrest. Nunavut RCMP said they won't comment further on the Natinine shooting because they anticipate there may be other reviews. In December, Nunavut's justice minister introduced a bill that would open the door for civilian oversight of RCMP in Nunavut. The bill, as it stands, still leaves the option open for police forces to conduct third-party investigations. The bill has passed second reading and is being reviewed by Nunavut's standing committee on legislation. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2021. ___ This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press
A new field hospital built in a parking lot at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto will likely be ready to accept patients this week as hospitals across the region try to deal with a record spike in COVID-19 caseloads. The mobile health unit, as it is officially known, will provide care to patients who are recovering or have recovered from COVID-19. The unit will allow Sunnybrook to free up acute-care beds in hospitals during the third wave of the pandemic. Contained in a series of green tents, supported by an aluminum frame, the 2,088-square-metre unit has 84 patient beds, with room to expand to 100 beds if needed. The hospital hopes to open 20 beds in the unit this week, according to the manager in charge of the temporary medical facility. Robert Burgess, Sunnybrook's senior director of prehospital medicine, patient flow and emergency preparedness, said on Monday that the hospital is putting the finishing touches on the unit this week. "We're literally at the last pieces in terms of the structural setup," Burgess said while wearing a mask inside the unit. The unit is being prepared at a time when GTA hospitals are so overwhelmed due to record COVID-19 admissions that some patients are being transferred to other health-care centres outside the region, including southwestern Ontario. A view of the inside of the mobile health unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto on April 19, 2021.(Kevin Van Paassen/Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) "We're preparing this week, as quickly as possible, to start bringing patients in," Burgess added. "Obviously, when you open a new hospital, or you open a ward in a hospital, there's a lot of work to do around staffing plans. We're working through those to ensure we're doing this in a safe fashion," he added. "Literally, with each hour that is passing, we're becoming closer and closer to the point where we can start to bring in patients on a routine basis. The hope is that we can start to bring some patients in this week. If it's safe to do so, we will proceed with that. We're all eager to start that process." WATCH | Toronto field hospital 'tool in the toolbox' for surging patient load, says emergency planner: Burgess said the hospital wants to avoid bringing critically ill patients into the unit. Each pod of eight-to-10 beds is self-contained. Several large generators provide power for the unit. He said there are many windows to provide light. He said "it would be great" if pressures eased on the health-care system in Ontario, the hospital did not need to use the unit and could dismantle it soon. "It's meant to be here as another tool in the toolbox for emergency preparedness. That is something that we would hope, but we're ready to help the province if it turns otherwise," he said. Contained in a series of green tents, supported by an alumimum frame, the 2,088-square-metre unit has 84 patient beds, with room to expand to 100 beds if needed. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) Burgess said staffing is being finalized with the help of the Ontario health ministry. The hospital is currently training staff members, providing orientation and doing simulations inside the unit to ensure people feel comfortable working there. "We are looking everywhere to find additional staff," he said. He described the unit as a "system resource," which means it could provide relief to hospitals in other areas of the province where there are pressures on the health-care system. Sunnybrook has been asked to ensure the unit will be up and running for a minimum of three months. That time period could be extended depending on needs and patient volumes, he said. Burgess acknowledged that the unit looks like a number of tents from the outside and can be startling to see, but said the unit is sophisticated on the inside. "These are structures that were developed for medical purposes. Once you're in, it's very sophisticated, it's very safe and very comfortable," he said. "We've designed the structure to be safe for patients and staff. Hopefully, patients and staff will be pleasantly surprised when they see the inside for the first time." An under-construction field hospital on the grounds of Sunnybrook Heath Sciences Centre, in Toronto, is pictured on Apr. 6, 2021.(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Peel’s medical officer of health Dr. Lawrence Loh talks about new workplace measures mandating closures aimed at tackling COVID-19 outbreaks.
B.C. Premier John Horgan announced new travel restrictions on Monday to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Horgan said the new restrictions were put in place to ensure that British Columbians stay within their own local areas and reduce non-essential travel. A formal order is expected to come at the end of this week, and the restrictions will be in place until the end of the May long weekend. It's a significant change from Horgan's tone a few months ago, when he cited — falsely — that Manitoba had only "four roads" in and out of the province, compared with B.C.'s dozens of roads and major airports, as the reason why the West Coast would not follow the Prairie province's stricter travel rules. "We never said we couldn't do it, we said it would be logistically challenging — and it is and remains so," he said on Monday. What are the new restrictions? B.C. residents will not be able to book accommodations or a camping site outside of their local health authority. This is currently being done through a voluntary basis in the tourism sector, but Horgan said he is willing to introduce a government order if necessary. Operators will cancel any bookings that have already been made, he said. BC Parks will ensure that anyone who has booked a provincial camping site outside of their health authority will receive a refund. In addition to no longer accepting bookings for recreational vehicles — such as campers and trailers — at the end of this week, BC Ferries will be contacting passengers who have already made reservations to ensure they are essential travellers. (Robb Douglas/CBC) BC Ferries will stop accepting bookings for recreational vehicles such as campers and trailers at the end of this week. The ferry service will also contact passengers who have already made reservations to ensure they are essential travellers. It will not be implementing any extra sailings this year for the May long weekend. In addition, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth will be issuing orders on Friday under the Emergency Program Act to restrict a person's ability to leave their health-care authority. The order will be enforced through a roadside checkpoint program. "Do not plan a holiday until after the May long weekend," Horgan said. When do they take effect and how long do they last? The formal order for the restrictions will be put in place later this week, and they are in effect until Monday, May 24, the end of the May long weekend. Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, said May 24 was chosen because it's when the province expects to have 60 per cent of its adult population protected with the COVID-19 vaccine. Can I travel within my health authority? It is technically permissible to travel within local health authorities — some of which cover large geographic regions or, in the case of Island Health, all of Vancouver Island — but Horgan urged residents to stay close to home for the next five weeks. "We're asking people to use their common sense," the premier said. Passengers are shown at the Vancouver International Airport in March 2020. Travellers will not be able to book accommodations outside of their local health authority for the next five weeks until May 24, the end of the long weekend.(Ben Nelms/CBC) What if I live on the border of a health authority? Horgan said he understands there is a lot of movement between certain health authorities, such as in the Lower Mainland between Vancouver in Vancouver Coastal Health and neighbouring municipalities such as Burnaby and Surrey in the Fraser Health authority, or around Quesnel, which borders the Interior and Northern Health authorities. "We get that. We want to make sure that public safety health representatives are not going to be heavy-handed with this," he said. "This is for those who are recklessly [flouting] the rules. It's not for regular folks who are going about their business." What is a roadside checkpoint? What happens if I'm found travelling outside my health authority? The roadside checkpoints will apply to all travellers passing through, and Horgan likened it to the impaired driving checkpoints conducted during the Christmas season. "There will be a fine if you are travelling outside of your area without a legitimate reason," Horgan said, although he did not provide details on how much the fine would be. In a statement Tuesday, Farnworth said there would be no random, individual stops, and that checks would be set up at locations like ferry terminals or along major highways leading out of Metro Vancouver. A B.C. RCMP traffic services officer demonstrates new COVID-19 safety protocols during the 2020 holiday campaign to deter impaired driving.(CBC) Horgan said the authority for the checkpoints will come from the Emergency Program Act. The government will be consulting with the BIPOC community to make sure the restrictions do not give anyone fear that there will be additional repercussions, he said, stressing it would not be like the orders introduced in Ontario on Friday and later rolled back. "We're not going to follow other provincial leads and bring forward proposals that can't be enforced," Horgan said. "It is not our objective to go into some sort of state where we are watching and monitoring everybody's activity." How do I prove that I am an essential traveller? Horgan did not provide an answer on Monday, but he said details would be provided in Farnworth's order on Friday. What about out-of-province travellers? The provincial government says it will be erecting new border signs along the B.C.-Alberta border, reminding people to stay within their own province if travel isn't essential. At this point, there will be no checkpoints. Horgan said he's grateful that other provinces are encouraging their residents to stay home, adding that anyone trying to book accommodations from outside of B.C. over the next five weeks won't be able to do so.
The federal budget fired what appears to be a warning shot at defence contractors — perhaps one in particular — by resurrecting an old policy statement in a move that may well signal where Canada's fighter jet replacement competition is headed. A little more than three years ago, in the thick of a trade dispute involving Montreal-based Bombardier, the Liberal government laid down a marker that became known informally in procurement circles as the "Boeing clause." Under the sub-headline of "Ensuring Procurement Partners Respect Canada's Economic Interests," the policy was reanimated and restated in Monday's fiscal plan, much to observers' surprise. "In December 2017, the government announced that the evaluation of bids for the competition to replace Canada's fighter aircraft would include an assessment of bidders' impact on Canada's economic interests, and that any bidder that had harmed Canada's economic interests would be disadvantaged," said the budget. "Budget 2021 confirms the government will apply this policy to major military and Coast Guard procurements going forward." Boeing vs. Bombardier Boeing, with its corporate headquarters in Chicago, is one of the biggest military and civilian aircraft-makers in the world. The company filed a trade complaint with the U.S. Commerce Department in April 2017 alleging its business was being harmed because Bombardier's C Series passenger jet was unfairly subsidized by the Canadian government. Bombardier's CSeries commercial jet takes off on its first flight in Montreal on Sept. 16, 2013. Rival Boeing filed a trade complaint with the U.S. Commerce Department in April 2017 alleging its business was being harmed because Bombardier's jet was unfairly subsidized by the Canadian government.(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press) At the time, Boeing's military division had been on track to sell the Royal Canadian Air Force a handful of Super Hornet jet fighters — a deal that went sideways and was eventually cancelled as the trade dispute deepened. At the height of the bitter feud and after a 300 per cent duty was imposed on Bombardier jets, the Liberal government produced a policy that stated companies that harmed Canada's economic interest would be at a disadvantage. The dispute was eventually resolved when Boeing's European rival Airbus stepped in and agreed to buy a stake in the C Series jet, eventually taking a controlling ownership share in the project. The so-called Boeing clause faded into the woodwork — until Monday's budget. WATCH | Finance minister introduces Liberal budget: "Companies found to have prejudiced Canada's economic interests through trade challenges will have points deducted from their procurement bid score at a level proportional to the severity of the economic impact, to a maximum penalty," the budget says. "This policy will protect Canada's economic interests and make sure the government does business with trusted partners who value doing business with Canada." The policy revival comes at an interesting time. A US Air Force F-35A is one-of-three competitors in the bid to replace Canada's CF-18s.(Murray Brewster/CBC News) Boeing, with its Super Hornet, is one of three aerospace companies bidding on $19-billion full replacement of all of the air force's aging fighter jets — a competition in which the bids are currently being evaluated with an eye to signing a contract next year. Industry surprised The country's defence industry association is taking notice. "It's unusual to see this kind of thing in a budget," said Christyn Cianfarani, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), a national business association. "Most countries don't have such a formal economic interest test, and if they do, it would be part of their procurement rules, strategy, or requirements on a particular acquisition." Public Services and Procurement Canada was asked to clarify the reasons for resurrecting the policy. No one from the department was immediately available for comment late Monday. "We're going to be seeking more clarity on this in the coming days," said Cianfarani. "We're not aware of this test having changed any procurement outcomes in Canada since it was announced in 2017. Since CADSI doesn't get involved in specific procurements, we can't assess whether this policy would penalize one bidder over another on any given project." Softening the political ground? Defence procurement expert Elinor Sloan, a political science professor at Carleton University, was just as surprised to see the statement in the budget. She wonders whether the Liberal government is softening the political ground for its impending contract award. There is a lot of political baggage associated with the fighter jet purchase. During the 2015 federal election, the governing Liberals promised to ditch a Conservative-era plan to buy Lockheed Martin built F-35 stealth fighters and purchase something cheaper, such as the Boeing Super Hornet, and plow the savings back into a revitalized navy. "My guess is they are having to walk back that clear policy statement," said Sloan, who was also searching for more clarity from the government. "I can only read into this that [F-35 Joint Strike Fighter] will be chosen. They need to find a way, a political way, to justify this about-face." Gripen, a Swedish fighter aircraft, performs on the second day of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. Saab offered the latest version of the fighter as part of its pitch to sell Canada a new fleet of fighter jets.(The Associated Press) Aside from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the Swedish aircraft-maker Saab is also in the competition, with the latest model of its Gripen jet fighter.
LONDON — Now that the Royal Family has said farewell to Prince Philip, attention will turn to Queen Elizabeth II’s 95th birthday on Wednesday and, in coming months, the celebrations marking her 70 years on the throne. This combination of events is reminding the United Kingdom that the reign of the queen, the only monarch most of her subjects have ever known, is finite. That has triggered speculation about how long she will remain on the throne, what the monarchy will look like in the future and, for some, even whether it should continue to exist. “The queen is certainly moving now into the twilight of her reign and a new phase of her reign,’’ said Anna Whitelock, director of the Centre for the Study of Modern Monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London. “She now is a widow, and it remains to be seen how she’s going to respond to that.’’ While most observers say the queen is unlikely to abdicate given her lifelong commitment to public service, she has already started to turn over more responsibilities to Prince Charles, 72, her eldest son. That process is likely to accelerate following Philip’s death. Charles’ increased role began gradually, when the queen began cutting back on long-haul flights, resulting in Charles taking her place at a 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka. Then in 2017, he represented the queen at the annual Remembrance Day ceremony marking the end of World War I, laying the monarch’s wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph in London. It was the first time the queen hadn’t performed the solemn ritual, other than when she was pregnant or out of the country. Since then, Charles has taken on an increasing number of public engagements and been named the queen’s designated successor as head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 nations with links to the British Empire. “Symbolically, the transition towards the succession is already underway,” said Ed Owens, a historian and author of “The Family Firm, Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public 1932-53.” “I anticipate that we’re going to see a lot more of Prince Charles in the next couple of years so that we, as a people, start to see him in his future role as king.” For now, the longest serving monarch in British history continues to reign. But she will do so without Philip, the man the queen called her “strength and stay,” a source of emotional support in her often lonely job. Her loss was underscored by Saturday’s funeral at St. George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where the figure of a widow in black sitting alone offered a glimpse of the next solitary phase of the queen’s reign. “Constitutionally, Prince Philip’s death doesn’t change anything. But, of course, at a time when the queen is approaching her 95th birthday, she’s vulnerable and aging,’’ Whitelock said. “Clearly, Prince Philip’s death has begun this transition to the future and the beginning of the end of this phase of monarchy.” Questions about the end of the queen’s reign will also fuel the debate over the long-term future of the monarchy, seen by many as a symbol of national unity but by others as an obsolete vestige of the nation’s feudal history. The BBC received more than 100,000 complaints about its decision to pre-empt popular TV programs for round-the-clock coverage of Prince Philip’s death, the most it has ever received about a single programming decision. And while there is enormous respect for the queen, the same isn’t necessarily true for Charles and other members of the royal family, said Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, which campaigns to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state. Philip’s death “serves as a reminder to an awful lot of people, who on the whole don’t think much about the monarchy from one day to the next, that change is coming,” Smith told the Express newspaper. The queen’s reign began with the death of her father, King George VI, on Feb. 6, 1952. She was formally crowned on June 2, 1953. During that ceremony, televised around the world, the queen promised to govern the United Kingdom and her other realms. Six years earlier, in a speech in South Africa, then-Princess Elizabeth made clear that her commitment was for life. “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,” she said. That is a pledge the queen intends to keep, said Robert Hardman, author of “Queen of the World,” which chronicles the monarch’s influence and stature around the globe. Even as she mourned last week, the queen attended a ceremony marking the retirement of her Lord Chamberlain, who organizes all ceremonial events for the palace, and continued to hold conversations with Commonwealth leaders. That shows she has no intention of emulating Queen Victoria, who retreated from public life when her husband, Prince Albert, died unexpectedly at the age of 42, Hardman told the BBC. “The signal she’s been putting out during the last week is that this is going to be business as usual, that duty comes before self,” Hardman said. “She will continue with all her duties because … she took a coronation oath and she’s sticking to it.” But she won’t be alone. While her popular grandson, Prince Harry, has stepped away from royal duties, the rest of the royals, backed by professional staff and advisers, are likely to rally round the queen and take on more tasks. Sustaining the institution will be the bedrock popularity of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who have a reliable ability to connect with the public. The queen may also be helped by technology. During the pandemic, Elizabeth has connected with the public through a series of Zoom calls. The appearances, released by the palace and posted on social media, have allowed people to see the queen speaking to schoolchildren, volunteers and health service officials — smiling, joking and making canny observations in a more personal way than the scripted speeches that have dominated her public life. Last month, for example, she held a Zoom call with a group of children and scientists where she was asked about her meeting with the first man in space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The monarch, who invited Gagarin to Buckingham Palace shortly after his historic flight in 1961, was asked what the pioneering spaceman was like. “Russian,” she replied with a smile. The audience chuckled. Just another day of working from home. “There’ll be a lot of emphasis as soon as the funeral is done on a return to normalcy. (For) the Royal Family, it will be the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On' sort of model, which they’ve been so good at promoting over the last 70, 80 years,'' Owens said, referring to the World War II-era adage. “They’ll want a quick return to the normal program of royal service.” Danica Kirka, The Associated Press
Christina Provost moved into her rental home in Prospect, N.S., a year ago. She decorated the house, she enrolled her kids in school nearby, and she expected to stay for years. About a month ago, Provost's landlord told her she was selling the house. Provost and her three kids had to find a new place to live by July 1. "I am devastated," Provost told CBC News. "I made this my home. Even though she owns it, it's still my home and I'm being displaced with absolutely no options whatsoever." Provost is part of a growing number of renters across Nova Scotia who are being evicted because their landlords are selling their homes or small rental units. Due to the current housing crisis in the province, many have no place to go. Provost said her post about the issue in a public Facebook group garnered over 100 messages from people in the same boat. "There's this middle class where we don't need to be in [subsidized] housing, but we also can't qualify for a mortgage right now due to divorce, being a single mother, accidents, work layoffs," she said. "There's so many reasons why people can't qualify for a mortgage that doesn't make them a bad person, but that genre of people, the in-betweens, are being completely left in the wind right now." ACORN's Halifax peninsula chapter advocates for low-income tenants and workers.(Francis Ferland/CBC) Hannah Wood, the chair of the Halifax peninsula chapter of ACORN Nova Scotia, an organization that advocates for low-income tenants and workers, said her group has been seeing a massive increase in tenants whose landlords are selling their units. Wood noted that "because landlords are selling homes and not rental buildings, most of the tenants living there are families and people who are going to have a very difficult time finding affordable rentals." The vacancy rate in the Halifax Regional Municipality grew to 1.9 per cent in 2020, but remains one of the lowest in the country. ACORN said there are 4,000 people on the wait list for public housing and the construction of new housing can't keep up with the number of people who are being displaced. Breaking sales records The growing demand for housing, meanwhile, is taking place against the backdrop of a real estate boom in the province. The Nova Scotia Association of Realtors compiled data that shows 1,577 units were sold across the province last month, a new sales record for the month of March and an increase of more than 65 per cent from March 2020. The average selling price of a home was also up by more than 26 per cent from the previous year. For many landlords, it's more profitable to sell their homes than to rent them out. Some are getting out of the business and moving into more profitable ventures like AirBnB or house flipping. Others are offloading their income properties now as a way to recoup costs from damages and regular maintenance. CBC spoke to multiple landlords from across the province who all had similar reasons for selling. John Bartlett, who owns rental properties in Dartmouth and Middleton, said he's selling most of his units because they've been damaged by tenants and trying to remedy the situation by going through the residential tenancy board simply takes too long. "Quite frankly, the way the housing market is now, it is the only time that I've looked at my property and said, 'Now I may be able to recoup some of my money that I've lost over the years.' And it has been a lot," he said. 2% rent cap a challenge for landlord A two per cent rent cap was instated in the province last November as a way to combat what advocates call a housing crisis in the province. Paul Finnemore stands in front of one of his rental properties in Kentville.(Submitted by Paul Finnemore) Some small landlords say the legislation makes it difficult to turn a profit because the cost of building supplies has risen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul Finnemore owns 17 rental units in Kentville and Middleton. He said his business plan revolves around buying old, run-down rentals, fixing them up and making them more livable. "And then we were planning to increase those rents. A little more than two per cent," Finnemore said. "Two per cent doesn't even cover ... the rate of inflation. "There's a mortgage payment. There's property taxes. There's insurance. Sometimes there's often utilities, water, heat lights — the whole bit — and then regular maintenance and stuff like that. So to make that formula work can be very challenging when we're not able to raise the rent even to a reasonable level." Finnemore cleaned up and renovated this property in hopes of renting it out.(Submitted by Paul Finnemore) This week, Provost found a new rental home to move to with her children. Not everyone is so lucky. Chris Ramsay had lived in his three-bedroom duplex in Colchester County for a year when he received a two-month eviction notice because his landlord was selling the property. He said having kids makes it much harder for someone to find a rental, though discriminating against families with children is illegal. Chris Ramsay and his two year old daughter, who are racing to find a new place to live before the two month eviction notice is up. (Submitted by Chris Ramsay) He said there are hundreds of people applying for each rental as soon as it goes on the market, and many landlords don't even respond to his inquiries. Ramsay said he had to apply for a rental in Cape Breton because he is so desperate to find a place to live. He is worried this will impact his ability to see his eldest daughter, who lives in the Annapolis Valley. Ramsay said he might have to resort to some unconventional living situations for himself and his two-year-old daughter if he doesn't find a place soon. "If I don't get approved [for the place in Cape Breton], in all honesty, me and my friend have shopped the idea around that if I could go on Marketplace or Kijiji and find an old camper or pop-up trailer to camp in his backyard and figure out what to do from there," he said. "Or try to find a motel, or anything, because right now those are getting pretty booked up as well. It's desperate times." MORE TOP STORIES
They're popular places to grab a brewski or two on spacious patios, and now they're on the market. Both the Orangeville and Grand Valley locations of Mill Creek Pub and Restaurant are up for sale. The establishments, which have liquor licences and full kitchens, are known for their outdoor dining options. “Half the people either had an experience on the patio themselves or are just enamoured by the fact it is three storeys,” said manager Donnie Beattie, whose parents, Don and Loraine Beattie, own the restaurants and are planning to retire. “We decided we would help staff in the pandemic, so we took back ownership and ran the place. Now that the pandemic is starting to ease up, my parents are ready to retire,” Beattie said. The Orangeville location, at 25 Mill St., is 6,500 square feet and seats 182 people inside, plus 120 people on the patio. It is available for $449,000. The Grand Valley location, at 30 Main St., is 2,480 square feet and seats 116 inside, plus an additional 16 on the patio. It is available for $199,000. Beattie would like the new owners to continue the namesake, as it has a footprint in Dufferin County. “What you’re going to buy is the business,” said Beattie. “Coming up with something new might not be the best business decision unless you’re coming in as a chain. I don’t think you’re going to see a chain coming. It will most likely be a family that continues the Mill Creek Pub.” Beattie said it was a difficult decision to give up the reins, as they had run the restaurant in Orangeville for eight years. The establishment has a storied history. The Orangeville location was previously Orangeville Bottling Works, owned by Alexander Walker, who made and sold whistle orange soda. The Beattie family took over the building in 2012 and made substantial changes. Everything was renovated from top to bottom, leaving only the brick walls for historical significance. They have been active in the community, donating to the Bethell Hospice Foundation and hosting Brewzapalooza, a popular craft beer festival in the winter in Orangeville. “I know it’s going to be bittersweet for them because they do love being part of the community and heading a lot of stuff," said Beattie. "However, there’s always a time and place, and we finally hit ours. It’s time to allow the next generation to take over all the events.” They were involved with the Orangeville Blues and Jazz festival, during which they would have musicians playing at their pub. “We had a big impact when it came to the Blues and Jazz festival in Orangeville,” said Beattie. “Here in Grand Valley, we started in conjunction with the BIA, yearly car shows. We had the first one off the ground, and of course, the pandemic hit. We’re hoping to get a second one later on in the summer.” The Grand Valley location opened in June 2018, after being home to many different establishments in the past. It was recently Houley’s Sports Bar and Grill, but was also well known as Robbie’s and The Olde Tavern. A bar and restaurant were on the main floor, while a dance hall was upstairs. The dance hall is now apartments, and the basement has become coolers, freezers and dry storage for the restaurant above. Joshua Santos, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Orangeville Banner
Entomologists are bracing for a big event in the bug world, as a massive swarm of cicadas is expected to emerge across the eastern United States after spending the past 17 years underground. Brood X, also called the great eastern brood, is the largest known brood that has been recorded, Alberta entomologist Ken Fry told the Calgary Eyeopener. Brood X is getting a lot of attention, but their less-famous cousins will also be making an appearance this year, not far behind — and not in the same numbers. "They're very secretive animals, it's tough to get your eyes on them," Fry said. "In the wooded areas of pretty much all of Alberta, we do have them, it's just they don't come out in these huge, huge broods." Seven species in Alberta Fry said that here in Alberta, we have seven species of cicada. The genus name is Okanagana, and the most common species is occidentalus. They are both smaller and less abundant than Brood X. The massive brood in the eastern U.S. has been living quietly underground for 17 years. "Periodical cicadas are a really unique group of animals, they spend all this time underground feeding on the roots of trees, and just happily existing below ground, safe and sound. And then they synchronously emerge," Fry said, adding there are both 13-year cicadas and 17-year cicadas. "And they just come out en masse, some estimates are upwards of three million animals per hectare. It's just a massive emergence every 17 years." The noise will be impressive. "A cacophony of noise, let me tell you," Fry said. "The males will fly up to trees, roosting anywhere from three to five metres above the ground, and then they have what's called a resonance chamber, so they pass air past a membrane which amplifies the sound like a buzz or a scream. And when you get this many animals synchronously calling out for a mate, it is a super loud noise." The cicadas will carry on for a few weeks of their four to six-week lifespan. A newly emerged adult cicada dries its wings on a flower in this file photo. After 17-years of living below ground, billions of cicadas belonging to Brood X will soon emerge across much of the eastern United States. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)(Getty Images) "The mating calls are short-ish, about two to three weeks at most, and it starts out with the early emergence and then as the bulk of them emerge, then you get this crescendo of noise, and then it peters off as the last ones wake up and come out," Fry said. Here in Alberta, the smaller species of cicadas we hear are on a shorter schedule. "Ours are not the 17-year periodical cicada," Fry said. "Depending on species, they can go underground from three to five years. They're not that abundant, so we don't have this cacophony of noise every three to five years, instead there's just the odd one that comes out." Listen to the full interview on the Calgary Eyeopener here: The cicadas are harmless — unless you're a tree. Female cicadas will cut into tender branches to lay their eggs. "And then those nymphs, or the immature stages, will hatch, and then proceed to go into the ground and take up another 17 years underground. So it is a bit of a problem — well, for us, the noise, for a short-lived period — but for the trees themselves there's some significant damage, so this year's growth is set back significantly," Fry said. But there's an upside for the ecosystem in a year of plentiful cicadas. "All the squirrels and birds and other animals are just gorging themselves on this feast every 17 years, and it's thought by some ecologists that this abundance of food allows certain populations of birds and other animals to sort of regain their populations," Fry said. "So they gorge themselves, they can have larger numbers of offspring, so they're more successful this year … so, it does have an overall ecological benefit in restoring some health to some other animal populations." With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.
MOSCOW — Russia insisted Tuesday that it has the right to restrict foreign naval ships' movement off Crimea, rejecting international criticism amid Western worries about a Russian troops buildup near Ukraine. Ukraine last week protested the Russian move to close broad areas of the Black Sea near Crimea to foreign navy ships and state vessels until November. The U.S. also aired its concern Monday, with State Department spokesman Ned Price saying “this represents yet another unprovoked escalation in Moscow’s ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine.” Price noted that the move "is particularly troubling amid credible reports of Russian troop buildup in occupied Crimea and around Ukraine’s borders." The European Union also voiced concern about the troop buildup and the navigation restrictions. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov charged that the restrictions on foreign naval ships were in line with international agreements, arguing that it’s common practice to limit areas where military drills are held. He emphasized in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that the restrictions wouldn’t interfere with commercial shipping. In a separate move, Russia on Tuesday also announced restrictions on flights near Crimea for five days starting Tuesday. The Russian military is holding massive Black Sea manoeuvrs this week, involving more than 20 warships and dozens of aircraft. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that such airspace closures are common international practice. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 after the country's former Russia-friendly president was driven from power by protests. Moscow then threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine, and the conflict there has killed more than 14,000 people in seven years. Tensions have risen in recent weeks with increasing violations of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine and a massive Russian troop buildup along the Ukrainian border. Moscow has rejected Ukraine and Western concerns, arguing that it's free to deploy its forces and charging that they don't threaten anyone. But at the same time, Moscow sternly warned Ukrainian authorities against trying to use force to retake control of the rebel east, noting recent statements by Ukrainian military officers who held the door open for an offensive. The Kremlin said that Russia could be forced to intervene to protect civilians in the region. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday accused Ukraine of trying to destabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine and lashed out at the U.S. and NATO for what he described as “provocative actions” in the Black Sea area. The U.S. and its NATO allies have regularly sent navy ships to the Black Sea and the U.S. flew strategic bombers over Ukraine, vexing Moscow. However, the U.S. reversed a planned deployment of two destroyers in the Black Sea earlier this month amid the heightening tensions. The Russian military has conducted a series of drills in southwestern Russia, in Crimea and other areas. On Tuesday, a pair of Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers flew over the Baltic Sea for eight hours, and the Northern Fleet conducted massive manoeuvrs in the Arctic, the Defence Ministry said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had previously said that Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was refusing to take his calls, on Tuesday offered the Russian leader to meet in eastern Ukraine to defuse tensions. "Ukraine would never start a war, but would always stand until the end," he said in a video address. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba insisted Tuesday that Kyiv wasn't planning any offensive in the east. “No, Ukraine is not planning any offensive, military escalation or provocations," he said at a news conference, adding that "we are making every effort for a diplomatic and peaceful resolution of the conflict.” Kuleba charged that the Russian buildup across the border is continuing and is “expected to reach a combined force of over 120,000 troops” in about a week and urged the West to beef up sanctions against Moscow by targeting entire sectors of the Russian economy. On Monday, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told reporters that there are "more than 150,000 Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian borders and in Crimea,” and doubled down on the figure later before his services had to correct it in the transcript, saying the real figure was over 100,000. Recent satellite images showed hundreds of Russian military vehicles stationed at multiple bases, firing ranges and field camps along the border with Ukraine and dozens of warplanes parked at air bases in southwestern Russia and Crimea. ___ Associated Press writer Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report. Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press
A Calgary woman is asking the province to change rules that prohibit animal conservation groups from rehabilitating ungulates after watching two moose who appear to be in deteriorating health in her neighbourhood. Brittany Lauzon says she has long enjoyed watching the wildlife that passes through her northwest community of Valley Ridge. But when a moose and her calf began to look ill, Lauzon reached out for help — and was shocked to learn the province doesn't allow conservation groups to rehabilitate adult ungulates, including deer, elk and moose. "Their hands are tied … because of the regulations that were put in place for prohibited species in 2010," Lauzon said. "They want to help, but they can't." Degrading health likely due to ticks The adult moose has frequented Lauzon's front lawn and the neighbourhood golf course for about five years, she said. But recently, the moose grew docile, and began to lose fur and shed weight. When the moose had a calf last year, it began to show similar characteristics. "I couldn't allow it to continue any longer, seeing that she's half her size, can barely hold her head up," Lauzon said. "And now she has this calf as well, who's taking on the same appearance and degrading health. That's why I decided it was now finally time to reach out and get them some help before it was too late." When the moose and her calf began to look ill, Lauzon reached out for help. She said she was surprised to learn the province doesn't allow conservation groups to rehabilitate adult ungulates.(Submitted by Brittany Lauzon) Alberta Justice told CBC News in a statement on Tuesday that due to tick infestations, it is natural to see moose in this condition at this time of the year. The moose will attempt to scratch away the ticks by rubbing against trees, removing large patches of hair. Researchers also told CBC New Brunswick in June 2018 that ticks are attracted to moose and can lead to significant blood loss. If the moose are experiencing an infestation, Alberta Justice said there is little it can do. "There is no treatment that could help them at this point, but the good news is, with the weather warming up, their chances of survival are good," the statement said. But Holly Lillie, who is with the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, said if the moose are suffering a tick infestation, it can become serious. "There's cases where … the tick infestation becomes so bad, it can be very detrimental to the animal," Lillie said. 'They're just left to die at this point' The government told CBC News that Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers have not received a report of moose experiencing a tick infestation in Calgary. However, according to Lauzon, Alberta Fish and Wildlife was the first organization she contacted for help. She said she has not heard back. And according to Lillie, non-profits and conservation groups are not licensed to rehabilitate ungulates. Legally, the animals are the jurisdiction of Alberta Environment and Parks. Lauzon said she is writing a letter to cabinet minister Jason Nixon asking to have the prohibited species list amended to include all species. "These poor animals — they're just left to die at this point," she said. "It's unfair."
The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is demanding better personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect its members from the aerosol and asymptomatic spread of COVID-19. In an application for judicial review filed in February, the ONA said the province hasn't done enough to protect health-care workers from COVID-19, singling out a directive from Ontario's chief medical officer of health as inadequate. When they do ask for it, in many cases it's a battle. - Vicki McKenna, Ontario Nurses' Association At the time of the application, the ONA said nearly 19,000 health-care workers had been infected in the province. "What we are asking for is the chief medical officer now to step up," said ONA president Vicki McKenna. Specifically, the union wants the province to explicitly acknowledge that the virus can be transmitted through the air, that asymptomatic transmission occurs and that nurses need the highest level of precaution available. Vicki McKenna, president of the Ontario Nurses' Association, says health-care workers continue to be denied adequate PPE. (ONA/Twitter) 'Restricted access' to adequate PPE Currently, the directive to hospitals and long-term care homes only recognizes that COVID-19 is spread through droplets, McKenna said. Nothing in the directive specifically mentions protection from airborne transmission, she said. "[Not] putting those statements in the directive [is] causing major issues in the workplace," McKenna said. "[We] still, after all this time, we have nurses and health professionals out there that have restricted access to the proper PPE for airborne transmission. And when they do ask for it, in many cases it's a battle." McKenna said the PPE available to nurses should include N95 masks, if not reusable elastomeric or powered air purifying respirators. Mario Possamai, former senior adviser to the 2007 SARS commission, says Ontario missed many opportunities to better protect workers.(Craig Chivers/CBC) Lessons from SARS The ONA argues the province is ignoring the precautionary principle, a key lesson from the SARS crisis that dictates maximum caution during an outbreak, even if our knowledge about how the disease spreads is incomplete. "From the earliest days of the pandemic, our public health leaders, based on really limited information, dismissed the possibility that COVID-19 could be spread through the air," said Mario Possamai, former senior adviser to the 2007 SARS Commission, who has also written a report on COVID-19 for the ONA. "We could have really focused on ... better protection for health-care workers, better ventilation, all the things that are involved in addressing an airborne risk. We missed that opportunity … and it's disappointing." Federal health officials only recognized the airborne spread of COVID-19 in November, and quietly updated their guidelines. Ontario's Ministry of Health said it cannot comment on the case as it is before the courts. The first hearing for the judicial review is scheduled for May 12.
A banned Pakistani Islamist group called an end to violent nationwide anti-France protests on Tuesday, after the government called a parliamentary vote on whether to expel the French ambassador and said it would halt criminal cases against the group's members. Pakistan arrested the leader of the group Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) on April 12 and banned the group last week after its members blocked main highways, railways and access routes to major cities, assaulting police and burning public property. The group has demanded that Pakistan expel the French ambassador in retaliation for the publication in France of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
Windsor police say an arrest has been made after a man allegedly pointed a gun at another driver in Walkerville on Sunday. According to police, two vehicles "became involved in a road-rage incident" around 6 p.m. on Sunday in the area of Moy Avenue and Wyandotte Street East. The vehicles entered an alley in the area of Gladstone Avenue and Wyandotte, where the man driving a black Lincoln left the vehicle and allegedly pointed a gun at the other driver, police said in a media release on Monday. Officers located the vehicle at around 7:45 p.m. at a home in Windsor. When police arrived, the suspect was outside and wearing a ballistic-style vest. No firearm has been recovered. A 34-year-old man was arrested and charged with: Pointing a firearm Threatening to use a weapon Possession of a handgun for a purpose dangerous to public peace Having face masked with intent to commit an offence Failure to comply with a release order
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -At least two groups of China-linked hackers have spent months using a previously undisclosed vulnerability in American virtual private networking devices to spy on the U.S. defense industry, researchers and the devices' manufacturer said Tuesday. Utah-based IT company Ivanti said https://blog.pulsesecure.net/pulse-connect-secure-security-update in a statement the hackers took advantage of the flaw in its Pulse Connect Secure suite to break into the systems of "a very limited number of customers." Ivanti said https://kb.pulsesecure.net/pkb_mobile#article/l:en_US/SA44784/s that while mitigations were in place, a fix for the issue would be unavailable until early May.
Nearly seven years ago, a rookie politician surveyed the political landscape across the democratic world and saw the outlines of a new era. "What we are seeing, in both Western Europe and North America, is the end of the Reagan/Thatcher era and of the political ideas that created it," Chrystia Freeland wrote at the time. While in power, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher personified an anti-government agenda that prioritized cutting taxes, repealing regulation, shrinking the state and deferring to the market. For nearly three decades that agenda held sway in the West, reining in the governing visions of even liberal politicians. Economic summit leaders (from left) Ronald Reagan, Brian Mulroney and Helmut Kohl follow Margaret Thatcher into a courtyard at Hart House in Toronto, June 20, 1988.(Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press) But in July 2014, Freeland was arguing that the Western world was on the cusp of what she called a "new tectonic political shift" requiring a change in thinking by and about government. Back then, Freeland — Justin Trudeau's first star recruit — had been an MP for just eight months. Now she's a finance minister staring down the painful endgame of a global pandemic and the unpredictable future that will follow it. The budget she tabled on Monday is about dealing with the immediate threat of COVID-19 and then repairing and revitalizing the economy with an eye to the future. But it can also be read as a document that nudges the federal government and the political debate further away from the thinking of Reagan and Thatcher (and, in the Canadian context, Stephen Harper). Permanent spending changes things The budget proposes $135 billion in new spending over the next five fiscal years, most of which will be spent over the next three years to deal with the impact of the pandemic and to stimulate the economy as the virus recedes. But there is significant permanent spending here too: for fiscal 2025-2026 — which is as far ahead as this budget looks — Freeland has budgeted for $16.1 billion in new federal spending. More than half of that — $8.4 billion — would go toward early learning and child care, matching almost exactly what advocates had said would be necessary to deal with a lack of high-quality, affordable spaces. But the budget also offers new and substantial sums for Old Age Security ($3 billion), public transit ($2.6 billion) and measures related to climate change and the environment ($1.9 billion). Expanding access to the Canada Workers Benefit — a refundable tax credit that supports low-income earners — would cost an additional $1.7 billion; Freeland says that could lift 100,000 people out of poverty. Back in 2014, Freeland said that the Reagan-Thatcher revolution grew from the idea that "an overgrown, inflexible welfare state" could be blamed for a sluggish economy and high inflation. But the key problems of the modern economy, she argued — low economic growth and high economic inequality — can be traced back to a lack of government action. "If too much government was deemed the problem of the earlier era of stagflation, it is easier to argue today that the problem is too little of it — too little stimulus, too little oversight, too little redistribution," she wrote. Seven years later, that looks like foreshadowing. The government grows, the government shrinks The Trudeau government was elected on a promise to spend more and do more. It has done dozens of things that the Harper government wouldn't have over the last six years (and some things which Trudeau might wish he hadn't done). But a few numbers also might quantify the broader change. In 1992-1993, at the end of Brian Mulroney's time as prime minister, the ratio of federal program expenses to GDP was 17 per cent — down from 18.3 per cent in the last year of Pierre Trudeau's government — while revenue was 17.3 per cent. By 2014-2015, the last full fiscal year of Stephen Harper's government, federal spending had fallen to 12.5 per cent. Revenues were 14.0 per cent of GDP. Before the pandemic, the Trudeau Liberals had pushed those numbers back to 14.1 per cent and 14.9 per cent. With this new budget, Freeland foresees spending reaching 14.9 per cent in 2025-2026 and revenues totalling 15.3 per cent. WATCH: Chrystia Freeland promises billions of dollars for child care That's not quite the return of "big government," but it's several steps removed from the vision of Reagan, Thatcher and Harper. And that change of direction is now demonstrated by a commitment to dramatically increase the federal government's involvement in child care — to spend federal resources and work with provinces to expand a vital social program. It shouldn't be forgotten that Harper came to office with a promise to scrap the previous Liberal government's plans for a national child care program. Those on the political left might argue this isn't actually enough. And they might have a good case. The Trudeau government has shelved discussions about increasing health transfers to the provinces and Freeland's budget offers nothing new toward fulfilling the Liberals' promise of a pharmacare program. A new federal-provincial deal that includes funds for long term care could add billions to annual federal government spending. Those on the right might argue that it's all too much. As long as the federal government is forecasting a deficit, it will be challenged to make the case that what it's doing is affordable. Even with debt servicing costs at near-historic lows — projected at 1.4 per cent of GDP in 2025-2026, compared to 5.8 per cent in 1992-1993 — there will be some fretting about what might happen if interest rates rise in the future, or if there's another economic shock soon. WATCH: O'Toole says Liberals delivered an 'election-style' budget Maybe Freeland still sees a need to break away from the neo-liberal orthodoxy of the 1980s and onward, but she might also want to leave behind a fiscally credible government. The alternative would only make it easier to usher in a new era of anti-government politics down the road. But an election almost certainly will occur long before anyone knows how the current fiscal situation plays out. The Liberals might be happy with the contrast now forming with Conservative leader Erin O'Toole — who responded to the budget by saying that the nation's finances are out of control and suggesting he would prioritize cutting taxes right now. Reagan and Thatcher are ancient references now, but the pandemic might have emboldened those who, like Freeland, believe the time for a different approach has arrived. And Freeland has now delivered a budget that follows on the arguments she made in 2014. That could set us up for a pivotal debate about the kind of government Canada needs now to deal with the problems of today.
